Broken saddlebag lid latch

[U20417]

Hmm.... four of those may be in my future.

I just ordered 4 of those that Charlie B gave us the link too. Had some problems with the website going totally black when I clicked on the drop down to select product with my mouse. Was able to work around it by using the keyboard (tab then down arrow). I am running Windows 8 and using IE 10. Just wanted to give a work around if anyone else has problems.

Richard

 

[charlie b]

Did you consider corrosion? What are the parts made of?

Yes, I did. Nickel plated steel of some sort. I tried to find some marine grade stuff but it was all too ugly (IMHO). If you live in a more himid/rainy area I'd encourage you to look at brass or exterior grade hardware. Again price and looks were a factor for me.

And if you are ambitious you could just get the stuff to make interior hardware with just the key part showing. Would use up some interior space, but, done correctly would look factory installed. Not hard, just not what I wanted for mine.

 

[slider]

Trust me, I wish you no bad luck, but it will happen, unless you don't open and close them at all. The system is that bad. My first problem was jamming, the mechanism has completely broken off the second time.

Point of interest. I have never seen another NT700v on the road and I did 12,000+ miles last summer coast to coast. I sometimes ride with a guy in a local riding group who has a Vulcan 900 and is named Ivan. He said his brother has a NT700V. Could that be you?

Nah. I have 3 sisters and they don't ride. I live way down in Southern Chester County. I've opened and closed them a ton of times and even dropped it once in the garage. I lock my helmet, tank bag and gloves in the left bag and pants in the right every time I go in somewhere. Then I put what I got in when I leave and open them up to get that out when I get home. I would think I would have had some slight issue by now.

 

[charlie b]

I have not had an issue with the bag latches on mine either. A lot of riding and a lot of use, including stuffing them a lot. So much stuffing that on trips I would sometimes put "safety straps" around them to make sure they didn't pop open on the road. And that was with the small lids.

 

[Chuck 500]

I have not had trouble either. I have done nothing to the latches except treat them gently. I discovered early that these bags do not like to be slammed shut. They are very air tight and resulting pressure will keep the latches from making connection. I have worried about my right bag as I keep it full of rain gear, tire kit and such. When I add winter liners from my suit, it gets very stuffed. The lids seem "willowy" to me when open, so sometimes I have to adjust the angle I pushing the lid to get a good latch. (It was the one thing that didn't seem very "Honda like" when I bought the NT).

 

[Bear]

So far so good on mine. I am always very gentle with mine, making sure things align, and then give a gentle push midway between the latches. I do spray the mechanism with "Liquid Wrench Silicone spray". That includes the key hole.

 

[BigBill]

My front left latch just broke, got it set up with epoxy for the night.
I may still need to put more layers on to get it the way I want.

 

[Ripshod]

I have not had an issue with the bag latches on mine either. A lot of riding and a lot of use, including stuffing them a lot. So much stuffing that on trips I would sometimes put "safety straps" around them to make sure they didn't pop open on the road. And that was with the small lids.

I'm pleased and proud to say that I'm the next guy who gets to use Charlie's good work. My experience with factory luggage has been pretty good actually - Other than a Vettered up '78 Gold Wing, I've only travelled on an ST1100 and an ST1300. Both bags were oddly shaped but big enough to hold a lot and boy, did I stuff them fill. Once I even pushed the bike over on its side because I thought that clothes bag wasn't that big. Both had very different types of latches but I never had a problem getting them to latch if I could manage to lever them shut. The 1100's bag went flying off on the road once but that was my fault.

I found this thread while looking for advice on bag liners but this is a more important thread. I found this video before I knew about Charlie's bike on the market.

[video=youtube;-rRXF9oVfpI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rRXF9oVfpI[/video]

So I considered myself warned and I'm thrilled to be able to pull off the same kind of behavior on an NT.


Phil, you're an artist. This looks great. I think the color looks really good on the fatter lids. They sort-of disappear.

 

[Phil Tarman]

LOL! When you get up close to my NT, you probably start taking back statements like "Phil, you're an artist." But from a distance....